This invention relates to intraocular lenses, and more specifically to lenses which are placed in the posterior chamber of the eye following removal of the natural lens from the eye. Such lenses are generally inserted into the posterior chamber through an incision in the cornea. Various configurations of projections or "legs" have been proposed which extend from the lens body and press gently against the top and bottom surfaces of the posterior capsule and thereby hold the lens in the center of the capsule. Inserting lenses having such legs can be difficult because of the increasingly complex curvature of the legs, because the legs are frequently as long as or longer than the diameter of the lens, and because the legs are so small that they can be difficult to see to ensure that the lens has been inserted properly. In addition, the length of the incision which the surgeon must make in the patient's eye can be affected by the length of the legs and the distance that they extend from the lens body. There is a need for an intraocular lens which achieves the desirable characteristics of lenses having flexible centering legs but which reduces the difficulty of insertion and the length of the incision which the lens requires.
The following patents describe intraocular lenses which employ various types of flexible or retractable legs, but which do not suggest the construction of the present invention nor its ease and simplicity of operation: U.S. Pat. No. 4 343 050; U.S. Pat. No. 4 296 501; U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,232; U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,022; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,546.